When is a coin, not a coin?

Coin Art and Jewelry

By David Gonzales - October 28, 2017

Sometimes people mistake medals and other items as coins. There are many examples of round objects, made of various kinds of metal that have the appearance of a coin.
First, we should establish what a coin is. The definition of a coin is, its a flat, typically round peice of metal with an official stamp, used as money. Legal tender if you will. Simply speaking, coins are used to purchase goods and services. There are U.S coins and there are foreign coins.
People often have various forms of metals that may look like a coin, but in fact they are not. Some of these metals can be valueable based on rarity, or valuable, based on the type of metal it is made of.
These metals are generally made by a for profit company that calls themselves a "Mint". Two examples of this is the "Franklin Mint" and "Danburry Mint". These two companies produce what I call coin art. They produce thousands of varieties of medals, based on the various interests of the market that they are trying to sell the medals to. One example of a type of medal, would be wildlife. These mints will produce a series of medals to be collected and usually put in some sort of packaging or box that is meant to enhance the medals.
As I previously stated, the value of these types of medals is based on rarity and or the value of the composition metal. In other words, if a metal is made out of silver, but it has no rarity, then the metals value is based on how much silver is in the metal. As with anything, prior to selling, it is important to know what you have. Please let us know how we can help.